Roderick Hewitt

University of KwaZulu-Natal | ukzn · School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics,

Ashley Smith was a reformed Jamaican theologian and minister of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Well known for his unapologetic, anti-imperial, Afro-centric interpretation of scriptures, Smith’s contribution in shaping the post-independence theological discourse in Jamaica is significant. Without fear or favour, Smith acted as...

This article engages through an interdisciplinary approach to re-envision Tangintebu Theological College’s (TTC) model of theological education in the context of climate change in Kiribati. It utilises the anthropological theory of symbolic interactionism within missiological, cultural and, theological studies of climate change. It argues for the c...

The subject of race and identity is a burning issue which continues to occupy the attention not only of South Africans but also the wider residents of the continent of Africa and those who are Africans in the Diaspora. The outburst of xenophobic attacks against foreigners mostly of Black African origins in some communities of Kwa-Zulu Natal and are...

Liturgy and Identity: Exploring Possibilities for Alternative Reading of Liturgy The practice and understanding of Christian liturgy within the African context has evolved over the last decades. In most African countries, the arrival of European and American missionaries influenced the ways in which Africans engaged in liturgical practices, especi...

Jamaica, being the leading country in the Caribbean region that produces and exports marijuana can only make meaningful and lasting changes to its marijuana policy with tacit approval of the USA government. Any legislative steps to decriminalize even small quantities of ganja that amounts to less than two ounces requires external approval because o...

This reflection on the conference theme: “Moving in the Spirit: Called to Transforming Discipleship” led me to ask the following pertinent questions a) What are the missiological implications of this theme in response to the world setting the agenda for the Church’s mission? b) What are the implications for equipping the people of God, laity and cl...

This reflection on the conference theme: “Moving in the Spirit: Called to Transforming Discipleship” led me to ask the following pertinent questions a) What are the missiological implications of this theme in response to the world setting the agenda for the Church’s mission? b) What are the implications for equipping the people of God, laity and cl...

The ongoing quest towards the realization of reconciliation and conflict resolution in the context of contentious religious pluralism in contemporary Africa demands a pluriverse perspective which give preferential option to indigenous epistemology, which is oftentimes, undermined and termed as mere myth. The pluriverse argues that contemporary real...

This paper interrogates the reformed identity that has been bequeathed through the Reformation and appropriated by the contemporary church within the Global South, to determine the extent to which it affirms life for those that live on the margins. It postulates that the reformed identity as bequeathed by John Calvin and his school of thought, fash...

his paper explores the phenomenon of ecclesial leadership and its relationship with social responsibility within the Sub-Saharan African context where many nations are experiencing economic injustices. It argues that failure to adequately engage with the neo-liberal economic order has resulted in ecclesial leadership that is increasing losing publi...

Public debate about the role of the church within society has gained momentum especially because the contemporary changing global political and economic landscape has resulted in deeply a divided world. People are asking questions about the missional identity and vocation of the church. If the church is the broken body of Christ in the world, what...

This paper seeks to interrogate the Reformed identity that has been bequeathed through the Reformation and appropriated by the contemporary church within the Global South, to determine the extent to which it affirms life for those that live on the margins. It postulates that the Reformed identity as bequeathed by John Calvin and other Reformers fro...

This article argues that the conservative patriarchal bias Christianity of the Jamaican churches’ understanding of human sexualities, Rastafari’s selective use of the Hebrew Scriptures to oppose homosexuality and the rouge masculinities and the anti-LGBT (Lesbians, Gays Bi-sexual and Lesbian Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender community) narrative cultu...

The issue of land has been central to Rastafari origins and ideological construct. Ethiopia, Africa, Babylon, Zion and Jamaica are symbols that point not only to physical location but also their ideological and psychological identity formation. This article uses Rastafari hermeneutics to critique the phenomenon of African Jamaican uprooting and dis...

Mission and Ecumenism are the life lines of Church. As such, ecumenical missiology is an expression of these life lines in conceptual terms. It is no wonder, then, that ecumenical missiology today has become ‘life’-centric. For instance, the World Council of Churches 2013 Busan Assembly focused on ‘God of Life’ and the new WCC Mission Statement is...

This article examines the plight of migrants by conversing Brian Wren’s poetic song, Travellers, with a missio-political reading of Exodus 1:8 – 2:10. Most migrants are people on the move fleeing from untenable threats to their lives from dysfunctional states of the Global South. The article argues that the socio-economic and political forces that...

This article is framed with the World Council of Churches' (WCC) mission statement Together towards Life: Mission and Evangelism in Changing Landscapes, which seems to be reviving academic interests in missio-formation as an interdisciplinary field study. The mission statement, which is framed in a postcolonial missional discourse, seems to show in...

Bob Marley and Steve de Gruchy are presented as two prophets of social change that belonged to two different eras and social locations, who lived their lives in the fast lane and died in the prime of their lives and career development. Through their common love for living life to the fullest their common love for the creative art of reggae music em...

There are increasing new challenges facing people everywhere that require in depth theological reflection such as bad governance, corruption among public officials, and disappointment with political leadership, non-life-giving institutional religion, marginalization and stigma among people with disabilities, HIV and Aids, Women, race, power and mig...

The topic invites us to explore spirituality for democracy and to identify and critique the spiritual resources that are needed for democratic participation in the 21st century. The statement specifically focused on for and not of democracy. Modern expressions of democracy are in crisis. Every context is teething with challenges and conflicts betwe...

Church an Culture examines the forces of inculturation within the Jamaican context and asserts that inculturation of the gospel as experienced by the church does not constitute a one-way movement in African -Jamaicans journey from a Euro-centric Christian identity to an Afro-centric Christian identity. Rather it is a complex socio-religious phenome...

This article argues that the neoliberal economic order that undergirds the contemporary phase of globalization is, to a great extent, linked to the demise of Christendom in Western society and the emergence of a post-Christendom culture and this carries major missiological implications for the church. Fidelity to the Christian faith requires affirm...

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of London, 1994. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 212-217).